Identical to that, Missouri soccer is thru the primary half of its 2022 schedule. The Tigers sit at 2-4 (0-3 Southeastern Convention) heading into their bye, with a Homecoming recreation in opposition to Vanderbilt on the docket this upcoming Saturday.
Missouri’s previous three losses are by a mixed margin of 14 factors, however shut defeats nonetheless go down within the loss column, and the Tigers should discover one other 4 wins to qualify for a bowl recreation.
With Missouri off this weekend and 6 SEC video games remaining, listed below are 5 storylines Tigers followers are left to digest, from a much-improved protection to a large receiver having his breakout marketing campaign.
Missouri’s protection is legit
The most effective storyline of Missouri’s season up to now is its protection, which continues to impress each weekend.
Final season, the Tigers gave up 33 factors a recreation beneath Steve Wilks. This yr, beneath first yr defensive coordinator Blake Baker, they’ve given up 24 factors a recreation. Via six video games, Missouri has pressured three fumbles, tallied eight interceptions and sacked the quarterback 13 occasions.
Baker’s protection has impressed past the field rating. In opposition to Kansas State, it held the Wildcats at bay for a number of possessions because the offense continued to show the ball over within the third quarter. It allowed simply three second-half factors to Auburn and annoyed Florida within the first half of final weekend’s recreation, holding the Gators to 65 whole yards of offense within the opening half-hour.
The protection’s greatest efficiency of the season, although, got here in opposition to Georgia. It gained the turnover battle 2-0, made a number of bone-crunching tackles and flew everywhere in the area, irritating Stetson Bennett and the Bulldogs’ offense all night time lengthy.
“I don’t imply this in an smug method, however I don’t assume Georgia has performed a protection like us,” Baker stated after Missouri’s slender defeat. “The movie doesn’t lie, and I feel we had been essentially the most bodily protection they’ve seen as much as that time.”
Following every stable defensive efficiency, there continues to be skepticism and just a little little bit of hesitancy, a product of previous seasons. When will the Tigers protection fall again to earth? At present, there are not any indicators of Baker’s unit doing so. Every week, it exhibits up and has earned the advantage of the doubt. How the protection continues to evolve over the subsequent half of Missouri’s season is without doubt one of the important storylines for followers to comply with going ahead.
Transfers are making a distinction
Joseph Charleston, Ty’Ron Hopper, Kristian Williams, Jayden Jernigan, Dreyden Norwood, Nathaniel Peat, Cody Schrader: What do these gamers have in widespread? All of them transferred to Missouri final offseason and have contributed instantly.
Hopper and Charleston are two of Missouri’s three main tacklers, whereas Schrader and Peat have mixed for greater than 600 yards and 6 touchdowns on the bottom. Williams and Jernigan have proved formidable within the trenches, whereas Norwood has been stable at cornerback. Marcus Clarke, who joined the Tigers from Miami following the beginning of the season, may very well be added to this checklist quickly.
Drinkwitz and his employees have discovered a lot success within the switch portal, one thing Missouri followers are starting to see the fruits of this season.
Is that this Dominic Lovett’s breakout marketing campaign?
The reply to this query, a minimum of via the primary six weeks, is a convincing “Sure.” Dominic Lovett at present sits second within the SEC in receiving yards with 499 and has a pair of lengthy landing receptions to match.
Whereas Lovett’s landing whole doesn’t stand out, he has stepped up when referred to as upon this season, with a number of necessary catches in key moments. At Auburn, his acrobatic 39-yard reception put Missouri in place to a minimum of try a game-winning area purpose.
Per week later in opposition to Georgia, Lovett made a number of receptions on scramble-drill performs and was the perfect participant on the sphere (six receptions for 84 yards) earlier than struggling an ankle damage, which sidelined him for the second half.
In a receiver room loaded with expertise, Lovett has stood out above his friends. Brady Prepare dinner’s No. 1 goal via the primary half of the season, the sophomore continues to rise to the event week after week.
The Tigers proceed to seek for offensive consistency
Whereas Missouri’s protection has performed persistently properly this season, the offense appears to be like significantly extra streaky, costing the Tigers a number of wins.
In opposition to Kansas State, it mustered a single landing, which got here on the ultimate play of a 40-12 defeat. At Auburn, it failed to attain a single level within the second half and time beyond regulation because the Tigers went on to lose 17-14. The subsequent weekend, after a red-hot begin in opposition to Georgia wherein Missouri took a 13-0 lead, the offense pale down the stretch because the Bulldogs got here again to win 26-22.
“We have to begin sooner generally, however we should be higher at execution,” Schrader saidn Oct. 5 when requested the place the offense wants to enhance. “We’d like to have the ability to execute on third downs and get our protection off the sphere, particularly in shut video games.”
The offense hasn’t been all unhealthy this season. Peat (379 yards, two touchdowns) and Schrader (278 yards, 4 touchdowns) have already pieced collectively spectacular seasons, whereas Lovett’s manufacturing speaks for itself. The issue is that it hasn’t put collectively a full 60-minute efficiency in a recreation of consequence but.
Prepare dinner’s two interceptions Oct. 8 at Florida each gave the Gators a free seven factors and price the Tigers a area purpose alternative. With the ball in his fingers and the sport on the road three straight weeks now, Prepare dinner has but to orchestrate a clutch scoring drive when Missouri wanted a landing.
Every weekend there appears to be flashes from the Tigers’ offense, nevertheless it hasn’t been sufficient to drag out a win in opposition to an SEC opponent. If Missouri can assemble a stable offensive day to enrich its protection, greater than three wins from the again half of its schedule is feasible. Proper now although, it has to show able to placing in such a efficiency.
How ought to Missouri followers realistically really feel?
Maybe that is essentially the most troublesome query to reply after the primary half of the season. On one hand, the protection has been nothing wanting spectacular and the Tigers may very well be 5-1 had just a few bounces gone their method previously three slender defeats. A program-defining win in opposition to Georgia was on the desk for over 50 minutes.
That hope makes actuality, a 2-4 file heading into Homecoming, extra irritating for a lot of Tigers followers to abdomen. Ideally, Missouri finds a technique to win a kind of video games, nevertheless it didn’t. It’s placing itself in large deficits to start video games (20-3 in opposition to Kansas State, 14-0 in opposition to Auburn, 10-0 in opposition to Florida) and fades too rapidly down the stretch.
There are the offensive query marks talked about above and the Tigers merely can’t discover a technique to win away from Memorial Stadium. They will legitimately go 0-5 on the highway with journeys to South Carolina and Tennessee remaining.
The best way followers really feel following the season might come down as to whether or not the Tigers salvage the season with a bowl recreation. They want 4 extra wins and have video games in opposition to Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Mexico State and Arkansas remaining. Missouri has showcased development, particularly defensively, however wants to begin turning development into wins to assist followers really feel just a little higher heading into the offseason.